Things have changed, but not enough

It just amazes me the strength of the bloggers who have submitted guest posts to me. It honors me that such strong child abuse survivors trust me with their stories of pain and abuse. I often downplay my own abuse because it does not compare to the abuse that others have endured. I have another survivor visiting today to tell her story.

I was sexually abused by my grandmother's second husband when I was 7 and 8 years old.

I was a small shy child and loved that he paid lots of attention to me. He also bought lots of "presents", which I have since learned happens a lot when men are "seducing" a child.

He was doing the same thing to my cousin who was only 5 months older than me.

The thing that sticks in my mind most about this is the reactions of members of my family. They were very upset and angry. I remember thinking for a long time that it was my fault. My mom did talk to me and tell me it wasn't…I wasn't believing it though. And she also said not to tell anyone about it.

I thought it was something to be ashamed of. Many children today think the same thing when it happens to them.

This was back in the 70's and you didn't hear much about such things then. Things have changed a lot since then. But not enough.

Child abuse of all sorts still happens all the time. People are more aware of it now. And there is more help such as counseling available for the families. There is still lots of room for improvement though.

Children may not report abuse unless they have been taught about it. The one doing the abuse usually tells them not to tell anyone. Sometimes the children are threatened. So we need to be aware of it…and watch out for it.

Elle was born and raised in Northeast Arkansas and has progressive hearing loss. She attended Arkansas State University and eventually got married. She has two fur babies, several feather babies, two stepchildren who are grown, one of them has 4 kids, which makes her a step-grandma. Elle started Simple Wyrdings a bit over a year ago. She's not quite sure exactly where she wants to go with it. Her posts are simple, which goes along with the name of her blog, of course. She loves visitors!

Hi y'all! I'm Janet - I am a work outside the home mom of one super silly six year old boy. I am learning how to have fun with my family through Family Fun activities, Crazy Crafts for Kids, and more! I'm also sharing my family's story of weight loss and my own story of depression and anxiety.
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